Broken paddle

Excellent! And thank you for posting the pic...

I'm going into hibernation this Thursday, getting a shoulder reapired, so I won't be working on anything for a while. More pics, please, to keep me from going too much more nutty than I already am???

 

All right! Nice work!

I'll note that, when it comes to my own personal paddles, putting the varnish on doesn't mean I'm done messing with it. If I want to make changes to it, like changing the grip shape, thinning out the blade, or whatever, there's no reason not to do it... You built it, you can fix it! The fun's just beginning... kind of like building canoes, oddly enough!

 

Oh, absolutely... finish it, try it out, tune it, repeat as needed... I think my first paddle took about six iterations; your mileage mat vary.

 

Matt,

That's looking good. The glue lines look good.
Did you by chance make a test joint and break it to get an indication of joint strength?

And keep the pics coming, we all like them, not just Paul.

Dan

 

You've learned much in a short time...

My paddles weigh somewhere between 1lb (1/2k) and 5lb (2.5k). I know this because they're too heavy for the scale in the kitchen, and the bathroom scale seems to weigh things +/-5lbs. Lightness, then, is in the hand of the beholder, or something like that. My ottertails are lighter than my Freestyle paddles, but that's about all I know!

In the face of a dearth of definitive data, controversy abounds... it keeps things lively?

 

I've also noticed that no body parts hurt when I'm paddling a canoe. It's way better than drugs, though it's at least as habit-forming.

 

Based on my (poor) memory,

most good commercial laminated modern style paddlies are in the 21 to 26 oz range,

with small builders who use lighter woods, ie, red&white cedar, mahogany, butternut, aspin, etc come in a bit lighter, 18-22 oz.

and carbon paddles lighter still, 14-18 oz.

I've never heard of a "tripper" complain of a paddle that was too light.

Dan

 

That weight range sounds pretty reasonble to me. After you use them, you can decide if you want to adjust anything.

Marc Ornstein (http://www.dogpaddlecanoe.com/36022.html) lists his paddles at approx. 19oz; he uses a lot of red cedar, which is very lightweight, but doesn't hold up to abuse real well. He carries them around in a hard shell flight case, to keep them safe. For my "Sunday Best" paddles, I just use bags made from fleece, with a drawstring closure. Might be a good accessory for your paddle, too -- sometimes my paddles get more beat up in the car than on the river!

 

28-34 oz???

Are these solid paddles?? This is very heavy for laminated paddles.

I checked the Piragis site and the weights I remembered were accurate for the paddles he lists.

BTW, 19 oz is light, and about the same as other makers of cedar paddles.

As for durability, as Peter Puddicomb(sp) said, (a Q ranger who made VERY nice cedar paddles) the/a paddle should only touch water, if you're touching something other then water, "you're abusing the paddle" (my paraphrasing, he worded it a bit more "abrasively")

Dan

 

Different paddles for different things. My "Sunday Best" are only used in deep water; for shallow or white water, I use beaters, usually wood laminates with plastic edging & glass covering. I often have two or three paddles in the boat on a river trip. Weight depends on construction... wood will never give as lightweight a paddle as carbon fiber, it's just way prettier.

 

paddle weights

My carbon fiber bent shaft paddle (Barton) is 11 oz. My wood bent shaft paddle (Gillespie) is 22oz. My straight cherry paddles that I made are heavier. But they are flexible and, once they are in the water, are neutral bouancy. I'm not pushing them down into the water. I rarely use the store bought paddles anymore. The cherry paddles are well balanced, quiet and comfortable.

 

I don't know that any offense was taken, but sometimes email & posted comments lose their body language, so it can be hard to tell... or easy to minsinterpret...?

I think you have a great perspective on things! I try to be nice to my nicer paddles, so I don't end up spending so much time fixing them. This frees up time for other projects...

 

Hey Mat,

No offense taken here either, I was just curious as to what they were. (BTW, Piragis sells Bending Branches brand, amoung others, I have a couple Gray Owl's that are about the same weight, ie, the 21-24 oz.)

I started on a batch of paddles a few years ago, well maybe more then a few years ago. I figured once I made fixture to glue up shafts and blades, I might as well make a few, ie, 8 straight shaft and 8 bent. Way to ambitious, I finished 1 of each. (IIRC, my cedar paddle weights were in the 18-22 oz range.)

I had a bunch of odds and ends of different woods left over from other projects that I used for strength and wear edges, but used red or white cedar and redwood for most parts.

The 2 finished paddles have made several BW trips and yes, even they have found the rocks and bottom on occasion. But no damage worth worrying about yet. I did learn that I made some of them too wide, and took them to the table saw later to correct it. 8" is about my limit.

Good luck with it and post pics as you get more.

Dan